NEW DELHI: Former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs sparked a debate on the intricacies of batting in challenging conditions with a pointed tweet following Sunrisers Hyderabad's loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.
In a subtle dig at SRH opener Travis Head's earlier comments about wanting to score 300 runs in an innings, Gibbs took to social media platform X to express his perspective.
"I know Travis Head said he wants 300 but chasing 207 on a slower wicket would have been just as skillful," Gibbs remarked, shedding light on the complexities of batting on slower pitches.
Gibbs' post served as a gentle reminder that chasing a challenging target on a surface unsuitable for free-flowing batting requires exceptional skill and composure from the batters.
"Talking international cricket, I'm pretty sure 300 in T20s and 500 in ODIs will be scored but the beauty will always be in the chase," Gibbs later said in a separate post.
The context of Gibbs' tweet stemmed from Head and his opening partner, Abhishek Sharma, jesting about their ambition to see a "3" at the start of the team's total, hinting at their desire to score 300 runs or more.
However, the reality on the Hyderabad pitch proved to be a tough challenge for SRH's batting lineup, as they struggled to keep up with the required run rate, ultimately falling short by 36 runs against RCB.
Despite the loss, SRH maintained a firm hold on the third position on the IPL 2024 league table, while RCB continued to strive for a comeback from the bottom spot.
1/10:IPL 2024: Spinners help RCB defeat SRH
AFP
2/10:Karn Sharma
<p>Indian spinners Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh took four key wickets to help IPL's lowest-ranked Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs in Hyderabad on Thursday. </p>AFP
3/10:Faf du Plessis
<p>Faf du Plessis-led RCB won the toss and scored a par 206-7 against SRH who could only score 171-8 as RCB registered only their second win in nine games. </p>AFP
4/10:RCB openers
<p>Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli hit a slow 43-ball 51 and stitched a 48-run opening partnership with Plessis, who fell after hitting 12-ball 25. </p>AFP
5/10:Rajat Patidar
<p>Will Jacks (6) fell early before Rajat Patidar's explosive 20-ball 50 propelled RCB to 130 in the 13th over, when the rookie batter fell to Jaydev Unadkat. </p>AFP
6/10:Virat Kohli
<p>Kohli fell in the 15th over leaving RCB reeling at 140-4 as their innings lost momentum and wickets of Mahipal Lomror (7) and Dinesh Karthik (11) by the 19th over. </p>IANS
7/10:Cameron Green
<p>Cameron Green hit an unbeaten 20-ball 37 to provide a final flourish as Unadkat (3-30) and T Natarajan (2-39) finished with five wickets between them. </p>AFP
8/10:Travis Head
<p>SRH explosive opener Travis Head (1) fell in the first over of the chase to Jacks and Abhishek Sharma hit 13-ball 31 before he fell in the fourth over. </p>AFP
9/10:Swapnil Singh
<p>RCB's Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh took three key middle-order wickets to leave SRH at 5-69 in the eighth over of the chase. </p>AP
